[Study of the Rhodotorula rubra cell wall. VII Influence of chloramphenicol on its morphology and phosphatase activity (author's transl)]

Abstract

Rh. rubra grown in the presence of chloramphenicol (500 mug/ml of medium) displayed morphological and biological changes, including formation of aberrant mitochondria with altered cristae, increase of the ratio fundamental element/mucilaginous sheath and electron-transparent regions in the cell walls. After treatment of the yeast with trypsin or beta-glucanase complex, acid and alkaline phosphatases remained localised within the cell wall, but the effect of the degradative enzymes on the activity of the phosphatses differed in cells grown in the presence of chloramphenicol and those grown without the antibiotic. The data suggest that chloramphenicol induced either structural fragility or increased permeability of the cell walls.